Shin Seki Mahou Evangelion
by Ninetri9
Summary: Shinji Ikari was just a regular student until his home became the landing site of otherwordly abominations, he acquired magical powers, and a volatile red-head moved into his apartment.  Evangelion meets magic; this should be good.  Expect OOC moments.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A/N: Um, hi everyone. Been a while hasn't it, hehe. Anyway, here's something new, and I actually intend to finish this one. I've already got a buffer set up as I work on more chapters. For those who are waiting for my other stories I will get back to some of them at some point.

Anyway, here's Evangelion with bits of fantasy settings behind them. I was inspired to write after reading NGE: Nobody Dies by Gregg Landsman. For those of you who are both brave and interested, go check it out.

* * *

><p>Waking to the incessant beeping that was his alarm, Shinji groaned as he slammed the silence button on his clock. He allowed himself a moment to himself before getting out of bed. After completing his morning rituals, Shinji took his place in the kitchen making breakfast and lunch for himself and Misato.<p>

His godmother, Misato Katsuragi, has been raising him since the time he was left there by his father over ten years before. She was a thirty year old woman who looked and acted more like a college sorority girl. Despite how she acts, the woman was still a very good guardian. Shinji would never have become the person he is without her guidance.

Though that still doesn't change the fact that she was a slob and couldn't cook anything that wasn't instant. It was by necessity that Shinji became the housekeeper and cook.

"Some days I wish Misato at least keeps the fridge stocked," he muttered to himself as he stared into the near empty fridge.

Deciding to keep it simple, Shinji simply has toast, checking his wallet to make sure he has money for lunch from the canteen at school.

Hearing groaning sounds from the hallway, he rolled his eyes as he dropped a can of beer onto the table. His godmother made her appearance, wearing her usual sleepwear of panties and shirt as well as the cross pendant that she always wears. If it wasn't for the fact that she had been wearing the same thing everyday since he was four, Shinji would definitely have been very uncomfortable in close proximity with the near nude woman.

Cracking the can open with a flick of a wrist, Misato downed her morning beer before letting out her wake up howl. Shinji placed a serving of toast and egg in front of her, grinning at her antics.

"We need to go grocery shopping again," he told her, "and you really need to cut down the amount of alcohol you consume."

Sticking her tongue out at him, Misato replied, "I don't drink that much."

Grabbing her purse, she pulled out a couple of bills, "Here's this week's food money, could you take care of it?"

"Don't I always?" Shinji asked dryly, taking the money and putting it in his wallet.

It was times like these that make him wonder who was the parent and who was the child in the apartment. With this, another morning in the Katsuragi/Ikari household came to an end.

After getting dressed in his school uniform, Shinji took off for another day of lectures at school, "I'll see you later."

"Oh that's right," Misato realized something, and shouted to the boy, "I'm working late today, so you don't need to make dinner for me."

After acknowledging her, Shinji took off. Taking the elevator down, he reviewed his mental list of groceries to get. Once he got off the elevator, he caught sight of two of his friends.

"Yo Shinji," greeted the boy in a track suit, "We were just on our way to get you."

"To get me, or to see Misato?" Shinji replied in a dry tone.

They had the good grace to look embarrassed. Touji Suzuhara, captain of the basketball team, and Kensuke Aida, member of the photography club, both met him on the first day of school. They first met when the two boys first laid eyes on his godmother when she came to school to drop him off. After that, the three got closer and became friends.

"Could you at least tell us what she was wearing?" Kensuke asked desperately, adjusting his glasses.

Shaking his head, Shinji started off down the road to school. His friends chased after him, bugging him for details. Grinning wryly, he ignored their pestering as they walked to school.

* * *

><p>Classroom<p>

His friends finally gave up their attempt to get Shinji to talk. Mostly in part to the fact that if they continued, the class representative Hikari Horaki would have overheard them and given them an earful.

"Hey, did you hear?" Kensuke began after they sat down, "there was damage done in the park. Huge craters were all over the place, like someone detonated explosives last night."

"Huh?" Touji replied in disbelief, "No way was there any explosions. I live in that neighborhood, I'd have heard something."

Pushing up his glasses, the nerd continued, "That's the thing. Dozens of people were reported to be walking past the park at the time the explosions would have taken place. Yet no one heard or saw anything."

Shivering, Touji said, "That's pretty spooky."

Shrugging, Shinji said, "Maybe it was just a bunch of people digging holes to make it appear like there were explosions."

"That's no fun," Kensuke said, opening his laptop, "It's much more interesting if something like aliens or ghosts did it."

Shivering, the jock tried to change the subject, "Hey, how about them Giants?"

Snickering, Shinji asked, "What? You afraid of a little ghost story?"

Slugging his arm, Touji made no reply while his friends laughed at him. They were interrupted when Hikari came over to where they were seated.

"Ikari-kun," she greeted, "Have you completed the survey yet?"

Taking out the survey in question, Shinji placed the blank page onto his desk.

"What?" she said in surprise, "you still haven't filled it out!"

Shinji shrugged, feeling uncomfortable under the class rep's glare. The survey was to find out what the student in question wanted to do. It helped the school counselors to give the students the advice they need to decide what classes to take in the future. The problem for Shinji was that he couldn't think of anything that he wanted to do.

Sighing, Hikari eased back, "You know, it's for the future. If you can get started early enough, you will be able to get a good career."

"Don't worry," Touji interjected, giving his friend some breathing room, "My family's construction business is always looking for employees. If you ever need a job, just look us up."

Smiling at him, Hikari complimented him, "That's very kind of you Suzuhara-kun."

Blushing a bit, the jock just gave her a big grin. Kensuke and Shinji shared a look. They both knew that Touji had a crush on Hikari, and were almost certain that the feeling was mutual. The two even had an ongoing bet to see when the two would finally confess.

A that moment the teacher entered, prompting Hikari to go through the morning rituals. After that came a long day of lectures. Despite his efforts, Shinji was unable to keep his attention on the teacher.

The comment Hikari made got his mind running: what did he want to do in the future?

His friends were already so sure of what they want to do. Kensuke plans to go into the military, Touji will join his family's construction business, and Hikari will go on to college.

He ran through a mental list of things that he enjoyed doing and sighed. The list was short, consisting of playing cello and cooking. Shinji didn't really think a career as a musician was very profitable, and he preferred cooking for his friends and family than for countless strangers. Shinji also felt that there was nothing in school that interested him academically enough for him to take.

His attention then turned towards the window. The view showed a small convoy of construction vehicles moving down the road. Recalling Kensuke's story, Shinji began to ponder what could have happened last night. This began to raise his interest, as his mind began to fill with theories. That gave him pause to consider a new future career.

_Maybe I'd prefer something like this_, he thought, _Something like law enforcement or a private detective._

He then shook his head thoroughly, _No way. Me? A detective? No way that could happen._

Returning his attention to the lecture, Shinji pushed all thoughts of the future for another time.

* * *

><p>After School<p>

His friends had meetings to attend, so Shinji was alone as he headed towards the shopping district. Deciding to take a shortcut through the park, he passed another set of construction vehicles. The damage from the reports had been mostly cleared away, only a few holes left to be filled.

Recalling his friends talk from this morning, Shinji took a moment to take a closer look at the damage. Like Kensuke said, the craters looked to have been created by some sort of explosion. Yet no one made any report of loud noises, which made things even more mysterious.

As he was entering the wooded section of the park, a sudden chill ran down his spine. The air suddenly became silent, as though he was suddenly became the only living thing in the park. Another thing he noticed was that the sky seemed to have gotten darker all of a sudden. It wasn't like it was night, more like the sky had suddenly become overcast, painting everything with a gray tone.

Turning around to exit the park, Shinji hit his head hard against something. Rubbing his head, he pressed his other hand forward until it came to a stop at the entrance. Taking both hands, he pressed against the invisible barrier. It wasn't solid, it had a slight give, but it was completely cutting him off from the outside.

"What they hell is going on?" Shinji muttered to himself.

Hoping that he could find a way out through another entrance, he picked up his bag and began to walk back down the path. Shinji couldn't help but feel as though he was being watched, though he could not sense anyone or anything.

He was entering the center of the park when a flash of light and a large boom caused him to fall to his knees_. _From deeper in the woods ahead came a giant humanoid figure. It turned towards him and began to lumber to him.

"What the hell?" Shinji cried as he scrambled to his feet.

The monster in front of him stood six feet tall, and was three feet wide at the shoulders. It's green skin glowed eerily in the darkened lighting, and its bird-like mask of a face stared blankly around. The lanky look along with its spindly limbs should have given it a funny appearance, but Shinji could feel something dark and feral emanating from it. And directly under its face, in the center of its chest was a bright red orb that gleamed with an internal light.

"Hey," a voice shouted at him from behind, "Get your head down!"

His head was already rotating around when a hand slammed into his back and forced him to the ground. With his face in the dirt, Shinji could only just see the person on top of him raising a hand towards the towering monster.

"lodernden Geist: Feuerball!"

The words that came out had an echo to it that reverberated in the air, and caused Shinji to feel as though there was an itch inside his head. From the hand that was stretched out came a ball of fire that was launched at the monster.

The attack engulfed the target, illuminating the area in a reddish hue. As he watched, he felt the person on top of him grabbed the back of his shirt, choking him as he was forced to his feet.

"Come on! That's not going to stop it for long!"

As Shinji struggled to keep up, he took notice of the girl, the voice was too pitched to be anything else. She was wearing a cloak that was tattered along the edges. Underneath came the glint of metal armor, though he wasn't sure how much there was. What really stood out was the girl's hair. It was a vibrant red, even in the dull lighting, and fluttered in the air around her head like a halo.

She made a quick turn and shouted with her free hand outstretched, "Iodern Geist: Großen Feuerball!"

This time the flame shot from her hand and went upward. She then turned and jerked Shinji's arm, forcing him to resume running. Taking the risk of looking back, he turned in time to see a massive fireball the size of a minivan come crashing from the heavens onto the target.

"Get down!"

She jerk hard on his arm and forced him to the ground. Once again, Shinji found his face being pushed into the dirt, the girl on top of him, her front pressed to his back.

_This would be more enjoyable if she wasn't wearing that armor_, the boy thought, his hormones running even while in a life and death situation.

Immediately came a huge wave of heat that engulfed them. The entire park became illuminated by the explosion that shook the very earth beneath him. A moment later the shockwave hit them, powerful enough to knock them over were they still standing.

_Ah_, he thought, his mind oddly lucid despite the insanity around him,_ at this point she rips my arm off in order to get me moving._

Thought became deed as he felt the back of his shirt being jerked, "Get moving. It's going to come after us soon enough."

This time, to Shinji's relief, the pace was slower, amounting to an easy jog as they moved away from the inferno. The girl seemed to be worn out from the effort of calling up so much fire, so he refrained from asking questions, thinking that this wasn't the best time to bother someone like her.

After a while, Shinji noticed that they were slowing down. The girl was gasping, her free hand clutching her side. She then took a quick turn into a stand of trees, pulling him into a crouch amongst the saplings.

Watching her gasp for breathe, he asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" she retorted sharply, "I just need a breather."

Shaking her head, she then demanded, "Forget that, who the hell are you? Which organization are you from?"

"Huh?"

"Don't you play dumb," she said angrily, "Only a mage could be in here. No mere mundane has the ability to even sense the barrier. Now tell me what is going on!"

Getting irritated by the girl's attitude, Shinji replied, "What the hell! That's what I want to know! One minute I'm walking through the park, the next I'm being dragged around like I'm in some dungeon quest."

She glared at him, looking him up and down. A look of comprehension dawned on her face. She grabbed his shirt and felt around his neck. This attention and physical contact caused Shinji to turn red in the face as she continued her search of his person. He looked into her bright blue eyes as she stared back at him with an incredulous look, and felt his heart race at the close proximity.

"Mein Gott," she muttered, "It's impossible, but here you are. That would mean-"

A rumble was all the warning they had, as something blasted over their heads, cutting the trees around them down. Before they could react, a three fingered hand reached down and grabbed the girl by the neck. The explosion had harmed it, entire sections of skin was charred black, and its face was cracked. However, it was healing at an unbelievable rate, a new face growing from underneath the broken one.

Shinji was frozen in place as he stared up at the monstrosity that was strangling the girl. It growled as it began to squeeze harder, making the girl whimper as her throat was constricted.

Before he could consider the consequences, Shinji had already charged and slammed into the attacker's legs, causing it to lose both its balance and the grip on the girl. Almost as quickly, the monster had its hand wrapped around his head, covering one of his eyes, and allowing him to watch as it grabbed his left arm.

To his horror, the arm of the monster grew thicker and bulkier. Suddenly, his mind went blank, and his vision turned white from pain. There was a ringing in his ears that he thought might have been him screaming.

He landed on his side, his arm was on fire. Through his fading eyesight he saw the girl rushing towards him. Her mouth was moving, but he couldn't hear what she might have been shouting.

Shinji's last conscious thought was, _I never got to know what her name is._

_TBC Next Week  
><em>


	2. First Steps

Chapter 2: First Steps

An incessant beeping was ringing in his ear. Sitting up, Shiinji rubbed his eyes as he hit the snooze button on his clock.

_What a dream_, he thought,_ That's the last time I marathon an entire anime series_.

"Wait," he spoke aloud, "When did I get back here last night?"

Getting out of bed, Shinji stepped out of his room and into the hallway. He rubbed his left arm, still feeling a phantom pain from his dream.

"Hey, Misato," he called out, "Sorry about not getting the groceries..."

Shinji trailed off as he saw the red-haired girl sitting in the kitchen, holding a cup of coffee. Instantly he realized that the dream wasn't a dream.

The girl simply watched him as he staggered to sit across from her. She was patient as Shinji tried to collect his thoughts and bend his mind around the jumbled mess of his memories. He noted that she wore regular clothes of a shirt and shorts.

"What the hell is going on?" was all he could get out from his confused head.

Snorting, the girl took a sip of her drink before muttering, "Dummkopf."

Putting her cup down, she glared at him, "You owe me big time. Do you have any idea how hard it is to carry your ass back here?"

"Wait a minute," Shinji held up a hand to the angry girl, "I still don't know what's going on. I don't even know who _you_ are."

Lifting her chin, she introduced herself, "I'm Asuka Shikinami, Level 3 Fire Elementalist. Charmed, I'm sure."

He could feel a vein throbbing in his forehead, but he kept himself composed, "I'm Shinji Ikari, second year student at Tokyo-3 High."

"So," the boy looked at the girl sitting across from him, "Want to explain what was that all about yesterday? And why I seem to owe you?"

"Simple," she said, "I saved your life yesterday, when you invaded my Das Gefängnis der Magie and decided to interfere with my fight."

"Huh? Das Gef-what?" Shinji was confused and irritated, "And besides, I saved your life didn't I?"

"Hmph," the red head retorted, "I wouldn't need to be saved if you hadn't gotten in the way."

Leaning her head on her hand, she looked away as she admitted grudgingly, "Though, you did impress me with the way you handled the Angel."

"Handled what?"

"A.N.G.E.L: Artificial Neon GEnesis Lifeform," Asuka answered, "The thing from yesterday. And thanks to you, I was able to collect its Core."

She reached into her shirt and pulled out a clear red gem and showed it to him. From within, Shinji could see a point of light, like a star.

"But you really surprised me," Asuka said, putting the crystal away, "You beating the Angel with your bare hands. It probably had some sort of magic dampening field, which is why your direct attacks had more effect than my fireball attacks."

Shocked, Shinji interrupted her, "Wait, I passed out. I thought you took care of it."

He leaned back as Asuka slammed her hand on the table and glared at him, "And I would have before you came along. How can you not remember that?"

"I don't," he admitted, holding his hands out, palms out in a pacifying manner, "I just remember that thing breaking my arm and then-"

He broke off as he looked at his left forearm, which should have been snapped in half. There not a single mark, and that boggled his mind.

"Yeah," Asuka told him, "I was the one who fixed up your arm. That's just the tip of the debt you owe me."

Images were coming to his mind, putting together his puzzled mind as his memories of the other day after his blackout came back to him.

* * *

><p>Flashback<p>

Shinji was laying on his side as he watched the monster grabbed Asuka from behind. He heard her scream as though she was at the other end of a long tunnel.

_Is this the end?_ He thought, _Am I going to die here, watching a girl getting killed? What about my friends, will they wonder about me, as another mysterious event?_

_Oh,_ Shinji was beginning to lose lucidity in his thoughts, _That's right, I need to get groceries. Misato will probably just buy instant ramen if I don't._

The girl's scream cut through his clouded mind as he looked up again, _The girl, that's right, she's in trouble. I can't pass out like this._

Something in his chest began to grow hot, as he watched her struggle in the other being's grip. A red haze began to film his eyesight, a rumbling in his ears that focused him, his heart began to race as he used his good arm to push himself up.

Conscious thought left him as he smashed into the monster again. Taking his good arm, he grabbed onto the arm holding the girl and squeezed. The monster released the girl as its arm began to break.

Ducking under the strike from the other arm, Shinji twisted his body around, maintaining his grip on the arm in his hand and snapping it. He then rammed his shoulder into the chest of his foe and knocked it to the ground. He felt rather than saw his right fist glow as he started to punch the monster's red core.

He smashed his fist over and over into the Angel's core until the monster used its good arm to knock Shinji off of it. It got back up, an angry growl shaking the air as it stared down at the boy. The monster then pointed its palm at him and fired a stream of high pressure water. Dodging around, Shinji resumed the attack, a large crater from the missed attack behind him. He kicked hard at the Angel's knee, causing it to snap in the wrong direction.

Collapsing onto its ruined knee, the Angel gave a screech as it fired another burst of high pressure water at him. It came fast and hard, before Shinji could attempt to dodge.

Following nothing more than instinct, he raised his good hand and pushed. The jet hit an invisible barrier, splattering on it and spraying large volumes of water all over. Shinji was unable to move, forced to hold his defensive position while the Angel continued to pour water at him.

His legs began to tremble under the strain, sweat beading on his brow when he felt a hand on the small of his back.

"Dummkopf," he heard dimly from behind, "you're going to burn yourself out at this rate."

He felt the hand press against his back, "Guess I have no choice, but you owe me big for this."

From the point where she pressed came a wave of heat, like he was standing with his back to a large furnace. The warmth began to fill him, taking away his fatigue. The bones in Shinji's broken arm shifted and mended instantly.

With his newly fixed arm, he began to press forward, the fire within him blazing and granting him power. Once in range, Shinji grabbed the Angel's attacking arm and snapped it with a flick of his wrist. Ignoring the screech of pain, he dragged it to the ground and tore the appendage off at the shoulder. Using the exposed bone as a dagger, Shinji again struck at the red core, cracking it and causing the Angel to buck about to try to get him off.

With one last roar, Shinji drove the impromptu dagger deep into the orb. The Angel shuddered one last time before it collapsed and ceased moving. The boy stood up and walked to the girl, who was just able to catch him as he collapsed.

End Flashback

* * *

><p>"Was that me?" Shinji asked himself, his mind numb from the realization.<p>

Asuka told him in a begrudging tone, "You were really something, especially for a novice mage like yourself."

"A what?"

Tapping at the crystal under her shirt, she told him, "A mage, someone who uses magic. You really don't know, do you?"

Picking up her cup and taking another sip, she sighed before beginning to explain, "There is a whole different world that exists parallel to this one. It is called Terra, and there magic and people who use it is commonplace. Many of the folklore and myths that exist here on Earth came from tales that mages bring with them when they come here."

"So," Shinji said, his mind still on the idea of magic, "I'm a mage. And what I did was magic last night?"

Shrugging, Asuka told him, "Sort of, you used a shield, that much I'm sure of. The thing you did with your hand though is something I'm not entirely familiar with."

"However," she continued, "I advise that you refrain from trying more magic without a focus."

She pointed to her gem again, "You could have hurt yourself seriously without one. At worst, I'd have a dead body to take back instead."

Shinji then realized a point that he completely overlooked, "I just realized, how did you know where I lived?"

She gave him a look, "You had an address on one of your ID cards."

Despite being made a fool, Shinji pressed on, "What about my godmother? How did you get her to let you stay here?"

"Oh, Misato," Asuka said, "She was surprised to see us, but since I knew her..."

"What?"

She and Misato knew each other? Shinji took a moment to digest the information: If they knew each other, and Asuka was a mage from a parallel world, then that would mean-

"She's a mage too?," he muttered, "Why didn't she tell me?"

"Don't know," Asuka answered, irritated at the interruptions, then poked him in the chest, "Anyway, now that that's out of the way, let's get down to you paying your debt to me."

All amazement and surprise that he was feeling before dissipated as irritation filled the void, "Again with the debt. What the hell do you want from me?"

"Yesterday," Asuka said, ignoring him, "I used up all of my remaining magic to help you fight the Angel. In fact, I am completely tapped out to the point that it'll take a month minimum before I'm anywhere _near_ combat ready."

Taking a superior tone, she then told him, "So, in order to pay me back, you will assist me in collecting more Angel Cores until my full powers return to me. So I hope you will-"

"I refuse."

Asuka spluttered and tripped over herself as she recovered, "You can't refuse!"

"Of course I can," Shinji retorted sharply, "I barely survived the last Angel. If I need to fight another hundred of those things-"

"Only fourteen more," she informed him, "And its only until I recover, so you only really need to fight two or three at the most."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Shinji firmly told her, "No. Absolutely no way am I doing that. I'll die!"

"Then what? You leave them alone until someone causes them to attack?" Asuka replied in a harsh tone, "Cause that's what happened the day before. An idiot made that Angel attack, and it was only because I was there to protect him that he's not in a grave right now!"

This hit Shinji pretty hard. He knew the damage the Angel could do from firsthand experience, and the thought that it could be avoided by him helping her just made that much more difficult to refuse.

He shook his head vigorously, "It's not that I want people to get hurt. I just can't see how _I_ could do anything to help."

Getting up, he told her, "I don't know about Misato or how you two know each other, but you're welcome to stay here for a while. I've got to go, I'm late for school."

She just watched him get up and leave. The expression on her face couldn't be described, but it made Shinji look away, unable to withstand her stare. He got out of the apartment as soon as he could, almost running away.

"Yo Shinji-" Touji greeted him as he passed by. He and Kensuke were at the bottom of the elevator when he arrived.

They were bewildered as they watched Shinji passing them by without any acknowledgment. This was a surprise and worried them a bit, and so they gave chase to their friend.

"Hold on," the camera geek called out, "Where's the fire?"

Jerked from his thoughts, Shinji slowed and turned to his friends. When they caught up they were hitting him with bursts of questions.

"Sorry," he told them, "I've just got a lot on my mind."

His friends saw that he really didn't want to talk about, so they left it at that and dropped the subject for another, "Did you hear about the park?"

Inwardly he was feeling very nervous as Shinji replied, "What about it?"

"There are more craters, and a fire that apparently destroyed a few trees," Kensuke informed him, "It was amazing, no one saw the fire and it apparently was burning for several hours before anyone even called the fire department."

While Touji and Kensuke were talking in awe about the mysterious events, Shinji was extremely nervous. It hadn't occurred to him that there would be evidence of his battle in the park, though he was now certain that a certain red head's magic was responsible for at least making sure people didn't wander into the battlefield.

"That's pretty scary," Touji said with a shudder, "I was walking with my sister past that place the other evening."

His nerves froze as he listened to his friend recount the tale of passing through the park at the same time as he was fighting for his life. It was then that Shinji realized how close Touji and his sister was to being caught up in the battle.

The two simply continued to talk until class began, not noticing that he was so lost in thought, "I can't believe that you were just there and you didn't see a thing!"

"How couldn't I," Touji countered, "I was going through the park, and it was right after we left the place that we actually saw anything. One minute it was all peaceful, the next a fire was going on behind us. We were scared shitless!"

The rest of the day was a blur to Shinji, partly from exhaustion, but also because he was thinking hard about what Asuka had told him earlier. He was terrified at the idea that he'd need to fight more Angels, but seeing how close the danger was to hurting people around him scared him more. As he thought on it, the boy began to realize that perhaps she was right: If he ran away, people would get hurt.

"I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away." Shinji muttered his mantra as he girded himself for something that he really didn't want to do.

He took his sweet time, going to the store to get the groceries that he wasn't able to get the previous day. It was late afternoon by the time he got back to the apartment, and a huge part of him was hoping that the girl wasn't there, or that Misato was there so he could talk to her first. When he entered the apartment, one of his two desires were granted.

While the red-haired girl from this morning was still there, Misato was also there waiting for him. Almost as soon as the door closed behind him she was there attempting strangulation by hugging.

"Thank goodness," the woman exclaimed, holding him to her well-endowed bosom, "I was worried when I didn't find you here."

"Sorry," Shinji said, his voice muffled by her embrace, "I had to go to school. You know, keep my grades up and all that."

Even to him the excuse was lame. He looked past Misato's shoulder to see Asuka there, just watching them. Disengaging from the hug, Shinji asked to talk to his godmother in private.

"So," she began, after they got onto the balcony, "what do you want to ask me?"

Nodding, he asked, "How long were you going to keep it from me?"

She grimaced at that, "It wasn't by choice. When your mother made me your godmother, she made me swear to keep it a secret until you were older."

Seeing the look on his face, Misato held a hand to forestall his questions, "I'm sorry, but I was asked not to reveal much more than that until you were older."

Though he was burning to get his answers, Shinji lapsed into silence, seeing the pained look she had on her face. Misato reached into her pocket and pulled out a crystal and held it to him.

"Your mother wanted you to have this if you decided to take up magic, and I had it stored somewhere safe until it was time," she told him, "That's why I wasn't here this morning."

It was the size of his thumb, a clear piece of crystal, much like Asuka's except for color, with a silver chain attached to one end. She pulled her hand back when he reached for it.

"I need to know if this decision of yours is the one you want," she told him, "Once you're a part of this there's no turning back."

Shinji looked at the crystal, "Last night Touji passed by the park with his sister."

Misato remained silent while he continued, "If it wasn't for Shikinami, they might have been hurt badly, and if she wasn't there, or I wasn't able to stop it..."

He trailed off as he looked into his godmother's eyes, "I want to protect them, and everyone else."

She smiled softly as she put the pendant around his neck, "You're so much like your mother. She would've said the same thing."

Pulling him into an embrace, Misato said, "If you promise to stay safe, I'll help you as much as I can."

Feeling him nod into her chest, she broke the tension by teasing him, "If you ever need a place to rest your head, you know where to go."

Getting a weak chuckle, the boy pulled away and took a look at his pendant while they headed inside.

* * *

><p><em>TBC<em>


	3. Fight in the Forest

Chapter 3: Fight in the Forest

"Aarrgh!"

The fuming red-haired girl was grinding her teeth while glaring at Shinji, "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm trying to make a fireball!" Shinji retorted irritably.

The two were standing in a deep forest on the outskirts of the city. Due to Asuka being unable to use magic and Shinji not knowing how to set up barriers, in order to protect the surrounding area and to hide their training they were miles away from the nearest point of civilization. It was just as well that they were cautious, as Shinji was still having difficulties with his magic.

It has been a week since Shinji agreed to helping Asuka in defeating Angels. Everyday right after school, he would meet her at the train station to head towards their training site. Since then, the best magic Shinji's done was a small flame, comparable to a candle.

The red-head muttered angrily to herself in German, to which the boy, already frustrated with his training as well, angrily retorted, "This isn't as easy as you make it out to be. You could try to explain things a little better instead of insulting me all the time."

Sighing explosively, Asuka pinched the brow of her nose before saying as calmly as she could, "Alright, let's start from the beginning."

Standing straight, his right hand extended and holding his focus, Shinji closed his eyes and listened, "Imagine your body is a well of energy. To cast your spells you first take a little of the energy in your body and use your words to shape it."

"What words?" Shinji interrupted, "You've never really explained that part."

Annoyed at the interruption, Asuka answered, "The words are the incantations that allow spells to be cast. You remember when we met? The words I canted to form that fireball?"

After seeing him nod, she continued, "Each mage choose a language to use as the base for their incantations. I use German, and Misato uses Japanese. Then there's the activation incantation. Each is unique to a mage and is revealed to them soon after training."

"Revealed by who?"

"I don't know," Asuka said irritably, "It just comes to you. Sometimes in times of stress it comes to a mage, so maybe I should start beating on you to for you to get it."

Waving his hands defensively, Shinji apologized, but he was feeling annoyed too. After a week he was not even near what he was when he first fought the Angel, and showed no signs of improving. Since they did not know when or where the next Angel would attack, they were also under the stress constant vigilance against the danger.

Taking out his mobile, the boy noted the time, "It's getting late. Let's go back."

Both of them wearily gathered up their stuff and began to walk to the bus station. It was a quiet trip back into the city, with Asuka napping and Shinji listening to his SDAT. He peeked at his traveling companion and his mind wandered to his many questions that were still unanswered. Fearing painful retribution, he held his questions for a few stops until they were at the tram station waiting for their ride.

"Hey, Shikinami," Shinji began, "I've been wondering."

"So?"

"Well," Shinji began warily, "I was wondering why the Angels were here. You said you came from a world parallel to this one, so did they come from the same place as you?"

Asuka put on an academic look on her face as she replied, "The Angels did come from Terra, but I don't know why they would be here."

"So could you tell me more about them?" Shinji asked.

Shrugging, Asuka answered, "As far as anyone can tell, they're artificial lifeforms that were created centuries ago. As for what they are is under heavy debate. Some researchers believe them to be created as a force to defend a city. Others think them in the more Biblical sense."

Seeing the look of confusion, she elaborated, "There are some who believe the Angels to be real. The ones that come from above and all that."

"But we killed it," Shinji said, "You have one of their cores."

Putting a hand over her neck, Asuka said, "This wouldn't be the first time they've been fought and defeated. For some reason they have the ability to restore themselves from just the core. It's believed that if all of the cores are brought together, then the magical energies interacting with one another would be enough to resurrect them."

She quickly added, "But no one's ever seen it happen, so it's not impossible that there's some other reason they can restore their bodies."

Shinji's doubtful mood didn't immediately dissipate, "But if we collect all of the cores..."

"Baka," Asuka interrupted. "Once my powers are back I'll be able to take the cores and try to lead the remaining Angels away from your city."

Only slightly more relieved, the boy held his tongue when he heard gasps coming from his left. He stiffly turned his head and spotted to his rising horror his friends Touji and Kensuke. Both of them were staring in their direction with gaping jaws.

"Friends of yours?"

Chuckling dryly, Shinji replied, "Unfortunately, yes."

As his friends ran in their direction, he quickly told Asuka, "Play along."

"Shinji," Touji came up and caught him in a headlock, "This is a pleasant surprise."

Holding a camera and recording everything, Kensuke asked the girl, "Hello there, Kensuke Aida is my name, and you are?"

Pushing the camera away, the red-haired girl gave a cute smile as she replied in a pleasant voice, "Asuka Shikinami. Nice to meet you."

Pulling on Shinji, Touji whispered into his ear, "So this is why you leave as soon as class lets out."

"Very nice," Kensuke said with his eyes shining behind his glasses, "Such a beauty, a foreigner too. From what land do you come from?"

Maintaining her smile, Asuka replied, "I'm from Germany, but I have a bit of Japanese in me, so I decided to engage in an exchange program in order to enjoy your culture."

"Well then," Touji asked, gesturing to the boy he held, "How do the two of you know each other?"

"We're pen pals," she looked towards Shinji, "We've exchanged letters for months while I practiced my kanji. I've been looking forward to this trip and meeting him. Since my arrival I've been dragging him around to give me tours."

She gave a polite bow, "I hadn't realized I was taking him away from his friends, and I wish to apologize."

Shinji couldn't help but feel amused at his friends fawning over the image she was giving them. He freed himself from Touji's grip and stepped between them and her, breaking their view.

"Well it's getting late," he politely interrupted, "Shikinami-san, let's get you home."

Touji and Kensuke spoke at the same time, "Let us escort you!"

"It's a dangerous place," the bespectacled boy said, adjusting his glasses, "And our friends Shinji isn't the sort of person who can protect a fair maiden such as yourself."

"That's right. One time, he ran from a stranger asking for directions because he was scary looking." Touji told her.

Feeling his blood boil at hearing her laugh at that, Shinji informed them, "It's fine. She lives in the opposite direction of you guys, she wouldn't want to trouble you."

It took a great deal of convincing and pleading before his friends were politely turned down by Asuka herself. As they began to walk away Shinji groaned and rubbed his forehead.

"They're going to bug me until the end of time for this," he muttered, "And why did you have to say that I was your pen pal and that you 'desperately' wanted to see me?"

She scoffed, "I never said desperately. I was making up a cover story. Now we have a base for any and all lies you'll need to make."

"Also," she said slyly, "It was fun watching you squirm."

Rolling his eyes, Shinji dropped the matter. He'll handle the mess when the time came, so he decided to steer their conversation back to his questions about the Angels.

"Going back to our original topic, how did the Angels get here from Terra?"

"Probably sent over through a Gate," She mused, "That's a mystic door that allows travel from our world into this one."

Asuka paused in her steps before resuming, her pace slower, "Travel between the two worlds are strongly regulated. Our society figured that it would be safer to wait until society here on Earth was more mature before introducing themselves. Of course we have idiots who get through and play all sorts of pranks."

"Pranks?"

She ticked off her fingers as she said them, "There's Sasquatch, Loch Ness Monster, chupacabra, just to name a few. Idiots who get a kick out of seeing you guys run around let loose a few creatures where they would be seen and taking them back before they're caught."

"Wait," Shinji was having difficulty comprehending what she just said, "You mean that all the fanatics are right? That every possible illusive creature was just a prank?"

"Not all of them," she admitted, "The Loch Ness caused a real scandal in our society. They sealed all portals between the worlds until the bastard who sent it was caught. Sending such a large creature through is not the sort of thing that people can ignore."

A thought occurred to Shinji then, "So how did all of the Angels get through with so little trouble? Maybe they're not all as big, but someone should have noticed."

Again Asuka paused in thought before she made her reply, "Someone sent them through, that's all I can say about it. And they were noticed."

"That's why you told me to help instead of asking someone from your world," the boy pieced it together, "the Gates are sealed, so you can't send for help."

Shrugging, she replied, "It doesn't matter. By the time someone gets the idea to see what's happening on this side I'll have collected all of the cores and solved their problem."

Shinji felt a vein throb in his head as she completely ignored his contributions. Then again, he mused, he wasn't altogether ready for a real fight against another Angel. Instead, he followed her back to their apartment. He'll deal with the Angel problem when they come, tomorrow he'll have an altogether different one to bug him.

* * *

><p>The Next Day<p>

"Come on," Kensuke whined, "Why won't you tell us where she lives?"

He had only just arrived at school and already Shinji was feeling tired. His friends were hounding him for information on his new 'friend'.

"Because you will then go to her place and bug her," he said irritably, "and then she'll come after me for letting you guys know."

Touji scoffed, "I think you just want to keep her all to yourself."

Shinji chuckled darkly to himself, _If only they knew_.

The depowered mage had made herself very comfortable in his apartment. After forcing him to move into the smaller guestroom, Asuka had been very insistent on getting his training started. Misato agreed, and he was now forced to handle training in addition to housework and his homework. Not only that, but their newest roommate was not at all neat or tidy. Shinji now had to deal with twice the mess at home everyday as Asuka was not an advocate for picking up after herself.

"Listen," he tried to tell them, "just drop it."

His demand was accentuated with the ringing of the bell. Grumbling to themselves, Touji and Kensuke walked back to their seats. Thankful for the modicum of peace, Shinji stifled a yawn as he prepared for lectures. He made it through two classes with half his mind telling him to go to sleep before his remaining half finally agreed and he dozed off.

**Hey!**

Shinji sat upright with a snort. He'd fallen asleep sometime in the middle of the lesson. The class had ended and the other students were taking advantage of the break to relax or to finish what work they can before the next class began. Scratching his head, he looked around for whoever called him.

**Oi! Baka-Shinji!**

The voice registered in his mind, making him jump from his seat in surprise. Seeing the looks he was receiving from his classmates, Shinji quickly left the classroom before he made more of a commotion. He passed several desks, drawing attention to himself with his mad rush.

"Ikari, where are you going?" Hikari Horkaki the class rep called out, "Class will start soon."

"I'll be back," he said brusquely, quickly making his way down the hall.

Internally, Shinji was panicking. He was hearing voices, and they were sounding like a certain roommate's.

**It is me!**

Rushing into the nearest men's room, Shinji checked to make sure he was alone before he allowed himself to slump against a sink.

"Shikinami? Is that you?" he said tentatively into the air.

**Of course it is.**

Taking a steadying breath, Shinji waited for his heart rate to slow down before responding, "Why they hell didn't you tell me you could do that? And why did you try talking to me now of all times? Now everyone will think I'm going nuts."

**Baka**, he could almost feel her rolling her eyes, **You don't need to speak out loud. Just think and I'll hear it.**

_Why are you doing this?_ Shinji asked with his thoughts, _I'm still in school._

**Oh, and I suppose you _want_ the city to panic as an alien creature is wreaking havoc?**

"Angel," Shinji said aloud in shock, "but I'm not ready for combat!"

**I know**, Asuka replied, **but what choice is there? It's outside the city right now, so if you hurry we can finish this quickly while it's still this far from civilization.**

Gritting his teeth, Shinji poked his head out from the restroom and checked before running down the halls, _Fine, where do I go?_

**Right now it's out west, near the forest where we trained**, Shinji noted that Asuka's voice had the sound of someone running while talking, **I'll meet you there.**

Shinji ran out of his school and charged directly for the nearest station. He couldn't afford to stop and come up with an excuse to give to his teacher for skipping out on class. At each stop Shinji couldn't stand still, tapping his heel impatiently at each stop waiting for the bus until he finally reached his destination. Spying her hair shining in the sunlight, he ran to where Asuka stood waiting for him.

"Come on," she didn't give him a chance to wait, "It's getting closer."

Gulping, Shinji reached down his shirt and pulled out his focus, letting it hang in front of his shirt. She led him deep into the forest, going off the trails and charging through the brush.

As they were walking, he began to notice that he was beginning to feel something from the direction they were going. It was weird, like standing near a fire with your eyes closed and knowing which direction it was.

"Do you feel that?" Shinji asked.

"Ah, I see your magical senses are beginning to develop," Asuka noted, "That's the Angel's magical energy you're feeling."

There was an opening in the trees coming up, and the two stopped at the edge to peek out. Set comfortably in the center of the clearing was a large purple bug of sorts. It appeared similar in appearance to a lobster, with multiple jointed legs curled up under its body and a large pair of pincer claws under its bulbous head. At the apex of the curve on its head was a mask like face similar to the on the previous Angel had.

"There it is," Asuka whispered, "You stay here and try to get some magic going, I'll run decoy and draw it away."

"Wait," Shinji ineffectively tried to stop her, but she was already charging in a line behind the Angel.

The sudden movement didn't attract it's attention, but her loud shouting did. It got up on its spindly legs and began to turn around. Sweat beading on his forehead, Shinji held his focus in his cupped hands and concentrated. He felt the power sluggishly flowing through his body as he channeled it to his hand. A loud crash drew his attention back to the clearing, and he saw a small sapling falling down. The Angel's claws were glowing, cutting through the vegetation at the other end of the clearing to get to Asuka with ease. Refocusing his concentration, Shinji felt his focus begin to grow warm in his hands. Once he had the power, the boy raised a hand and shouted the incantation.

"Fuerball!"

A small ball of flame burst from his hands, flying towards the Angel. It exploded into a cloud of smoke, obscuring his view of it. Shinji stood there waiting with baited breath. There was a crash and the Angel appeared from the smoke, stomping around in a large arc to get to him. With a short cry, Shinji plunged back through the woods, putting distance between it and him.

**That was the worst fireball ever, **Asuka said flatly, **of all time.**

_Shut up_, Shinji retorted angrily, _what were you expecting?_

**Whatever, just keep going. I'll run around and try to get its attention, we can lead it deeper in the woods.**

Risking slowing his pace, Shinji looked over his shoulder and spotted the Angel charging straight at him, its claws tearing trees from its path. With renewed energy, Shinji ran up the mountain, hoping the steep incline would slow it down.

He thought he was successful when the crashing noises were getting quieter, but when he turned to look he saw that something else had caught its attention.

_Shikinami_, he thought, _Is that you?_

**I'm still trying to catch up**, her thoughts carried the image of weariness, **What's wrong?**

_Something's caught its attention_, Shinji noted, running a path parallel to the Angel, _I can't tell what though_.

His stomach dropped when he heard cries for help from two familiar voices. Touji and Kensuke were running for their lives, the Angel in hot pursuit, and it was Shinji's fault they were in danger.

* * *

><p><em>TBC<em>


	4. Bug Hunt

Chapter 4: Bug Hunt

"Are you sure he went this way?"

Touji was kicking through the brush. They saw Shinji running out of school early, and were curious enough to chase after him. Their friend never skipped out on classes if he couldn't help it, and held near perfect attendance. They, being good friends, could not let this matter go unnoticed.

"Fairly sure," Kensuke replied, "There's some broken branches this way."

Grumbling, Touji asked, "What could Shinji be doing out here?"

"Ask him when we find him," the bespectacled boy said. The boy stopped and listened carefully, "Hey, do you hear that?"

Stopping, Touji cocked his head sideways and listened. Sure enough, there was a crashing noise, like multiple trees falling over. After a moment he noticed that the crashing was getting even louder with each passing moment.

"Is it getting louder?"

Kensuke pulled out his camera and used the zoom function to look ahead, "It's probably getting closer."

He couldn't get a good view from the image on his camera, but there was definitely movement from ahead of them. Putting away his camera, he walked to where Touji stood.

"Maybe we should back away a bit," he told him, "It sounds dangerous."

Touji scoffed, "If Shinji's here, then it can't be that dangerous."

He regretted his words as the crashing noises were becoming very loud, the very earth under their sneakers shaking. The two boys began to back away towards the trail.

Kensuke put forward the idea, "We should probably run now."

A giant purple head popped from the forest, letting loose a piercing shriek. Both boys screamed and ran in the opposite direction.

Shinji picked up his pace, calling another ball of fire to his hands. It was pitifully small, but he still launched it at the Angel. Again it exploded into a cloud of smoke, but the Angel ignored it, continuing to chase Touji and Kensuke.

_Shikinami! I need help! _Shinji cried out, drawing more energy for another fireball.

**I'm almost there**, she replied,** See if you can draw its attention away from them.**

Shinji tripped over a root before he could reply. His knees were screaming in pain, but he ignored it to the best of his ability and pushed himself up. The Angel was much further ahead now, and closing on his friends. He tried to run, but his legs buckled under him. Leaning against a tree, Shinji cursed himself for being weak.

_'Calm yourself. Don't let your fear overcome you.'_

Shinji jerked his head around. A new voice was speaking in his mind now, a calm feeling pervading into his thoughts. He took several calming breaths, focusing on the voice.

_Who are you?_

The new voice was softer, more soothing than Asuka's bellowing in his mind. It sounded familiar, yet as foreign as the Angels were to his home.

_'Clear your thoughts. Let the words come to you.'_

The voice was compelling, and so Shinji closed his eyes and cleared his mind.

_'Feel the beat of your heart, hear the sounds of your breath, know who you are.'_

As she said those words, he felt something within him welling up. The sounds of raging winds were in his ears, and he could hear words being spoken in the roaring noise. Shinji took a deep breath and began to draw in his power. He felt the power welling up in him as he opened his mouth and chanted out his spell.

"_Hoshizora no yoru ni tōboe suru!_"

* * *

><p>Asuka caught up to the rampaging Angel and cursed angrily. Shinji's friends were still screaming, no doubt as annoying to it as it was to her. Her magic was depleted, but she still had options. Spotting a ramp leading to higher grounds, Asuka detoured up the hill.<p>

After finally catching up to the Angel, she leaped onto the Angel's back. It felt her land on its back and leaned its head back to stare at her before it started to buck. The red-haired girl clung to the smooth shell, her teeth rattling against each other painfully with each movement. The smooth shell provided little for her to grip, and she eventually slipped from its back landing hard on her back. She choked as she tried to get back up. Feeling rather than hearing the Angel turning around, she began to panic as it loomed over her.

"_Hoshizora no yoru ni tōboe suru_: _Hinotama._"

A large fireball struck across the Angel's head, making it rear back from the force. Asuka cringed, covering her face with her arms to protect herself from the heat. A pair of hands grabbed her under her arms and dragged her away from danger.

"Are you alright?" Asuka heard a concerned voice ask her.

Once her vision cleared, she saw that her rescuer was Shinji. She gave him a brief grin before saying, "About time you got your rear in gear."

She looked him up and down, "I'm impressed. Your magic armor looks somewhat decent."

Upon realizing his powers, Shinji's clothes had changed. In contrast to Asuka when they first met he didn't have an abundance of metal armor covering him. He wore a brown duster over a gray and silver shirt and pants. There were steel pauldrons on his shoulders and he had steel backed gloves and boots, but that was the extent of overt armor.

Feeling embarrassed, Shinji replied, "I didn't make this, it just appeared when I said my incantation."

Turning her head, Asuka replied, "Whatever, not like it matters. Think you could finish the job?"

With a shriek, the Angel got back to its feet, its head regenerating from the damage. It's glowing pincers snapped ominously as it lunged at them. Asuka slid downhill, away from the ensuing fight between Shinji and the Angel.

The boy dodged the first pincer and was knocked over by the second. The impact wasn't as strong as he expected, his armor providing him ample protection. Rolling to his feet, Shinji gathered his energies for a new attack.

"_Hoshizora no yoru ni tōboe suru: Shinku no Inazuma!"_

From his hands arced a bolt of crimson lightning, striking the Angel and coloring the surroundings in red light. The Angel's flesh was seared, the entire left side of its head a blackened mess. It didn't stop however, instead holding its glowing pincers out in front of it.

The glowing focused in the center of its claws, turning into a solid ball of light. Swinging its pincers, the balls elongated, growing longer with each movement. It now had two energy whips, each as long as its body. With surprising dexterity, the Angel swung its arms, lashing out at Shinji.

Jumping back, the boy sidestepped most of the attacks. Only one actually touched him, and it burned his arm through his armor, causing him to hiss in pain.

Now advancing, the Angel waved its whips about in a menacing manner, the fearful image enhanced by the eerie burned head. Retreating, Shinji held his burned arm against his body as he put distance between him and the Angel. With his arm burned, he would have more difficulty defending and attacking.

As he retreated, Asuka spoke to him, **Call out your focal device! You can turn your focus into a weapon.**

Pulling out his focus, Shinji was about to ask how to do that when the words came to him. Turning back around to face the Angel, he held out his hand and spoke the incantation.

"Mayonaka no ame, aid me."

His focus flashed, and a rifle appeared in his hands. His shock at its sudden appearence was only momentary as the Angel's whip slashed across his vision. Leaping back, Shinji lifted his gun and pulled the trigger on reflex. The gun clicked, indicating that it was without bullets. Turning tail Shinji ran as fast as he could with the Angel in close pursuit.

Tripping over his feet, the boy slid down the hill, twigs and rocks smacking him in the face. He finally stopped at the bottom of the hill, and climbed to his feet in order to continue running.

**What the hell are you doing?**

Asuka appeared alongside him, matching his pace and continuing to speak in his mind, **Use your weapon!**

Waving the rifle, Shinji responded, _This thing doesn't have any bullets!_

She grabbed him and pulled him to a stop. Her face was completely expressionless as she first gestured to his outfit then to his weapon. It took a few seconds before Shinji finally understood what she was getting at and smacked himself in disbelief.

"Right, magic."

Turning around, Shinji pulled the gun back up and aimed at the approaching Angel. As before, he focused his energies, but this time sent the energy into his rifle. Asuka watched in awe as the magical energy began to spiral into the loading chamber in the rifle. Magic is generally an invisible energy, but the sheer amount that Shinji was channeling was enough to make it visible.

After he finished loading, he held the rifle back to his shoulder and aimed at the closing arthropod, "_Hoshizora: Hinotama!_"

Instead of a large fireball, his rifle fired a thin beam of compressed fire. The heat and force of the attack caused Shinji to flinch and fall over. His shot was high and went over the Angel's head. The attack didn't even cause it to flinch as it closed in with them.

"Scheißkerl," the red-haired girl cried out, "Run!"

The two split up to confuse the Angel, but it already picked its target and wasn't giving up on him. Shinji screamed in terror as the monster chased him down the hill. The Angel lashed out with its energy whips, tearing trees down all around him. Taking a sharp turn, Shinji turned around to see the Angel sliding past. Due to it's size it couldn't turn as quickly, giving him time and opportunity to aim.

"_Hoshizora: Hinotama!_"

This time Shinji put more power into his attack, creating an attack far greater than his last one. The heat started small flames on the branches of nearby trees, the force knocked him off his feet and onto his back.

Shinji got up in time to see that his shot went wide again, "Eh?"

Asuka shouted at him, _**You missed!**_** How the hell did you miss from so close? You have got to be the worst shot in history.**

The Angel turned, waving its claws menacingly, up until the top of a large tree crashed on top of it. Both of them were dumbstruck to the point that Asuka cut off her rant against Shinji.

"Well, that worked out rather nicely," Shinji was saying, getting to his feet.

Walking over towards Shinji, the girl told him, **Don't forget to get the core, otherwise it'll come back to life.**

Sighing in weariness, the boy climbed over the branches and towards the body. Under the tree, the Angel weakly twitched under the heavy tree. Taking his rifle, Shinji fired a dozen times into the body before it finally stopped moving. The body turned dull, collapsing upon itself under the tree. Shinji had to jump back to avoid the tree rolling over him. Asuka stepped tiredly next to him, holding her side as she breathed heavily.

"Good job," she said after a moment, "I've got this."

She held up her focus and willed energy into it. A small dot of light flew out from the body, hovering in the air for a bit before flying towards Asuka's gem.

"Wunderbar," she said with a grin, "That's two down, thirteen more to go."

Shinji leaned against a tree, breathing deeply, "But we have another problem. My friends saw us, and they're not exactly the kind of people who keep their mouths shut."

Waving a dismissive hand, Asuka replied, "No problem, I can handle this. I might not be at full power, but I can still handle a memory charm on both of them."

Waving a hand, Shinji asked, "So how should we take care of this mess?"

"Leave it," she replied, walking away, "Without the core, the body will completely decompose in an hour. As for the rest, who will care what happened?"

Her carefree attitude was getting to him, but he was too tired to comment on it, "Let's just find my friends and get out of here. I feel like sleeping for a year."

* * *

><p>Touji peeked out from behind the boulder he was hiding behind. The loud crashing and flashes of light had stopped, leaving the forest eerily quiet. Sliding back quietly, he turned to whisper to Kensuke.<p>

"Do you think Shinji's alright?"

Shaking, the other boy replied, "I don't know. I just want to get out of here."

"We can't leave!" Touji said, "Not until we know our friend is alright."

"I'm glad to see that you worried about me," a familiar voice behind him said.

The two jumped and looked up to see Shinji looking over the boulder at them. Rushing from behind the hiding spot, they confronted their friend.

"Oh thank god," Touji exclaimed, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he replied. They spotted a certain red-haired girl behind him.

"Why is Shikinami here too?" Kensuke asked, lifting up his camera.

She raised a finger and waved it back and forth, "That's a secret."

The two were watching the waving finger as a light appeared at its tip. They watched, mesmerized as the light grew brighter. Then they slumped over, fast asleep.

"So they won't remember anything when they wake up?" Shinji asked for confirmation, poking Touji's leg.

"They'll remember trying to follow you and failing," Asuka told him, "Their minds will fill in any gaps that appear in their memories."

Shinji sighed as he lifted Touji over his shoulder. He took a few shaky steps before looking back to Asuka. She looked from Kensuke, then back to him, her expression plain. With a groan, he shrugged the jock over so he could lift his other friend up onto his other shoulder. Fortunately, Asuka deigned him worthy of at least helping carry the smaller of the two boys. Right now, he just focused on carrying his friends home.

* * *

><p>Shinji groaned as he reclined in the bathtub, letting the aches and sores of the day seep out of him. Taking a deep breath, he reached over for his focus and then let it dangle in front of him. The light reflected off of its surface, lights dancing over his face.<p>

"I did it."

He smiled as he allowed himself to remember using magic. It seemed to be like a fantasy, but it was all real. Shinji imagined himself as being a sort of superhero; he saw himself rescuing people in the nick of time, just like in the manga he reads.

Just as quickly, however, he began to remember the danger that came with this power. He could have been killed by the Angel. His friends were in danger because they decided to follow him out of curiosity. Asuka had put herself, while she was without a way of defending himself, in harms way. It was only because he was able to awaken his powers that they weren't hurt or worse.

**Hey, Baka-Shinji, what's taking you so long?**

Frowning at his loss of privacy, he replied, _I'm trying to relax here. I did have to fight an Angel on top of dragging my friends home._

**Yeah, sure**, he could feel her frustration, **Anyway, I just wanted to tell you: Good work out there.**

He paused in thought for a moment at her compliment, completely dumbstruck. When had Asuka Shikinami decided to give out compliments to him?

**Don't let this get to your head**, she had a bit of a mocking tone now, **This doesn't mean that you can slack off in your training. We'll start with finding a new location to train you, and then we need to think of a training regime to fit your style.**

Rolling his eyes, Shinji closed his eyes and let her voice flow through his mind. He had expected this; Asuka would never give out compliments without something else to tone it down. Her thoughts were scathing, always pressing against his mind.

"So much different from that other girl."

He paused in his thoughts when he said this. He'd almost forgotten with the excitement of the day. Shinji remembered the voice that spoke to him during his fight against the Angel. Why did he know that it was a girl's voice? And, unless he was developing a separate identity, who was the one who spoke to him?

* * *

><p>The moon rose over the forest, lighting the scarred terrain in a pale light. A faded mist floated through amongst the trees, casting an ethereal look to the forest. A figure in an elegant blue and white kimono glided through the forest, looking left and right at the damage that surrounded her. Her pure white hair glowed in the moonlight, her every movement like a dance step. The atmosphere seemed to freeze as she passed, as though afraid to do anything to disrupt her.<p>

She eventually stopped at the toppled over log of the tree that helped kill the Angel earlier. The log was almost a meter and a half in thickness, seven meters long. The strength of the attack that brought this tree down was massive, if a little rough.

"Ojou-sama," the woman said, "he has a great amount of power. I believe that he will become so much more powerful with time and training."

Another figure stepped from behind the fallen tree. This girl was younger than the other, but still held herself with the same poise and grace. She didn't speak right away, first looking at the damage that surrounded them. The silence stretched as she examined the damage to the tree that stood between them.

"He has already destroyed two of the Angels," she finally said, "and collected their cores. It does not change the plan, but he must be brought to our side, or else we risk losing the cores."

Turning to walk away, she continued, "Yukiko, continue your surveillance. Report to me anything unusual."

Bowing deeply, the older woman replied, "As you wish, Ojou-sama."

The mist thickened, and Yukiko faded away into the shroud without a sound. The other girl continued to walk, not looking back, lost in her thoughts.

"Shinji Ikari," she whispered to herself, "Will you be an asset, or a problem?"

* * *

><p><em>TBC<em>


	5. Another Day

Chapter 5: Another School Day

A loud crack, followed immediately by a shout of pain echoed in the field. Shinji rubbed the welt that was developing on his head as he turned to his assailant.

"Would you stop hitting me," Shinji demanded, "It's really not helping."

Holding a broken off branch in hand, Asuka replied, "I'm only doing this to motivate you to do better. You're only hitting two out of five targets; it's really embarrassing."

The open field that the two were standing it was far from civilization, having taken them an hour and a half to get to after leaving the last bus stop. After the fiasco in the forest, Asuka was kind enough to cut down on his training after school, but made up for it by having all day training sessions during the weekend. In addition, she had increased the amount of training he had to do.

"It's not as easy as it looks," Shinji said under his breath, holding his weapon up to his shoulder again.

It was the weekend of the week after the second Angel they encountered. Almost as soon as Shinji finally got back home he collapsed onto his bed. He didn't wake up until late the next morning, just in time for him to rush to classes. Asuka later explained that him being tired wasn't that unusual after the stunts that he had pulled off.

When he met Touji and Kensuke in class, he was somewhat worried that they would still remember something from the other day, but his worries were put to rest when they acted the same as always. They could barely recall him skipping out on class, and everything after that was simply their own minds filling in the blanks caused by Asuka erasing their memories.

After school, when he asked her about further training, Asuka replied, "Take a break today. We'll take it easy tomorrow and figure out things from there."

She kept her word, much to his surprise. He spent the day doing his normal chores and homework, and was able to actually relax a bit. The next day was also pretty easy, as she promised, making the boy optimistic that she was taking it easy on him as a response to his powers manifesting.

His optimism was destroyed upon being rudely awoken early on Saturday morning, well before the sun was completely over the horizon. Asuka had him out the door and down the street before he was even fully awake. By the time they arrived at their new training spot, Shinji was more then convinced that he was in for a hell of a training.

"Come on," the red head ordered, "One more set, then we can stop for lunch."

The mention of food made his stomach rumble, but he put aside his thoughts for food in order to finish the exercise. Asuka picked up a small stack of clay plates and threw them one by one into the air in random directions. Pulling up his magic rifle to his shoulder, Shinji fired at each one that passed into his field of vision.

After seeing what kind of weapon his focus became, the boy had thought the gun looked familiar. It was most likely due to having a military nut like Kensuke as a friend, who would constantly show him gun magazines while exclaiming about their stats and other miscellaneous details. Unable to figure it out what kind of gun, Shinji borrowed some of Kensuke's military magazines to look. He found that his rifle took on the form of a M1 Garand, though other than the name he knew little else about it. Still, he only needed to load and fire it, aiming was something he was learning to do.

"Three out of five," Asuka commented, sighing in disappointment, "Still not that good."

Shinji ground his teeth, but put away his weapon and replied, "Well I'm sure I could do better if I wasn't tired or hungry. Now can we please eat?"

"Fine," Asuka replied, going through the bag and pulling out a couple of store bought bentos.

The two of them ate in silence, Shinji because he was starving and focused on eating. Fortunately there were extras since the boy was still hungry after finishing the first box. After eating their fill, the two relaxed under the warm sun, drinking bottled green tea.

"Might as well try teaching you a bit before we get back to training," Asuka said, wiping her mouth in an unladylike fashion.

Shinji grimaced at her bad manners and passed her his handkerchief, "So what are you going to teach me about?"

Snagging the cloth from his hand, she finished wiping off her mouth before replying, "Might as well start with the different mage types and go on from there."

"The first thing you need to know is that there are three main mage types," she began, taking a professional tone, "Elementalists, Summoners, and Animus. Each one is different from the others, and they each come with unique traits."

Gesturing to herself, Asuka informed him with a proud smile, "I am an Elementalist mage, specializing in the Fire element."

Shinji recalled with remarkable accuracy the power of the spells that she could cast during their first meeting. He didn't doubt her word, though he did wish that she would be less egotistic, especially considering her now powerless state. The boy returned his attention to Asuka as she continued her lecture.

"As a Fire Elementalist I specialize in fire spells. As you may recall, I am very powerful. On top of that, I am in possession the knowledge of a wide variety of spells. The things I can do is truly amazing."

"But you can't do any of that now," Shinji interrupted her potential monologue of how great she was.

Clenching her teeth, Asuka whacked him in the back of the head, "Baka, I know that! You don't need to rub it in."

Rubbing the sore spot, the boy apologized, "Sorry, but you were getting a little off track."

Still a little miffed, nonetheless Asuka continued, "The Elementalists are the most common mage type. They can use other elements, but their strongest spells will always be the their born element."

"The second type is a little more uncommon, the Summoner type. The powers they posses is unique in that they don't require any secondary requirements for summoning. While other mages will require a physical totem to which the familiar will anchor onto, the Summoner themselves are the anchor."

"Totems?"

"Physical objects that are symbols that represent some aspect that reflects the nature of the familiar," Asuka answered, "like using a feather to anchor a sky spirit, or a piece of flotsam for an ocean spirit."

"So then, where do the familiars come from?" Shinji asked.

"There's a sub-world that exists between our two worlds," she explained. "It's called the Spirit Realm, and it's where familiars are summoned from. A massive realm, the only section thus explored would barely equal the size of Japan."

"As for the inhabitants, a mage, summoner or not, will need to convince the creature to form a master-familiar pact before the familiar will work for the mage."

Taking a sip of tea to wet her throat, she then informed him, "In terms of magical power, Summoners are generally weaker than the average Elementalist, so they can't cast big spells or cast as many smaller spells. This is compensated by being able to quickly summon familiars to fight for them, and the familiars themselves tend to have their own abilities and powers that can match any other mage."

"It can be safely assumed that you're not a summoner type," she noted to him, "You're abilities are far greater than a regular summoner already."

Shinji rolled his eyes as she then added, "But you've still got a long way to go before you're anywhere near as good as I am."

"The last type is the rarest," Asuka resumed her lesson, "The Animus type also possess the greatest magical potential, even the weakest easily matching some of the more powerful Elementalists."

Stretching her arms over her head, she stood up, "Alright, I think that's enough of that. Let's get back to training."

"Hold on," Shinji scrambled to get to his feet, "Aren't you going to explain the Animus type?"

"I would, but I don't know that much about them," she stated, "They so rarely crop up that there are people in my world that think that the Animus is a myth. So instead of gabbing about something you don't know, we should get to work."

* * *

><p>Later that evening<p>

Shinji groaned as he got to work on dinner. For most of the day, Asuka had him shooting targets and casting spells, and now he was drained physically and magically. As tired as he was, the boy decided to keeep it simple and made stir fry with some leftovers.

"Hey, how you holding up?"

Setting the stove to a low heat, Shinji turned to Misato and gave her a weary smile, "I'm fine. Sorry I wasn't here to make you lunch."

"That's right, you owe me one now," the woman said in a mock serious tone, "So..."

She sneaked closer, "Did you and 'Shikinami-sensei' get any special teacher-student training?"

Shinji's face burned as he quickly replied, "We didn't do anything like that!"

His face burned with embarrassment as his guardian laughed at his reaction. Shaking his head, the boy turned around to clean up his workplace hoping that she would leave him be. Of course, Misato wasn't one to give up, not when she was finding his reactions so amusing.

"So you didn't have any thoughts about it while all alone with a girl?"

A sharp voice intervened on his torment, "Bah, as if that coward's got the guts!"

Asuka appeared, her hair still damp from her bath, with a sneer on her face, "And even if he did, I wouldn't be interested."

Seating herself at the table, she waited with an expectant look. Gesturing to the pot, Shinji hung his apron and went to take his bath. He was too tired to eat and wanted to get to bed as soon as possible.

"I'd suggest eating something," he heard her tell him, "We're going again tomorrow. Early."

Groaning, the boy ignored her and entered the bathroom. After getting a plate of food, Asuka sat down to eat, with Misato watching with a disapproving look.

"You could take it easier on him," the older woman suggested, "I know it's important to get him trained, but when another Angel attacks wouldn't it be better to give him rested and prepared rather than bone tired."

Looking a little guilty, Asuka pretended to ignore her while eating her dinner. Misato snatched the plate away and glared at the younger girl. The two women had a glaring contest, but the younger girl broke eye contact from guilt a minute later.

"Alright fine," the girl said defensively, "We won't train all day tomorrow, and I'll take it a little easier on him."

Satisfied with that answer, Misato gave back the plate, getting a serving for herself as well, "On that note, how are your powers?"

Frowning a bit, Asuka replied, "They're coming back, but not as quickly as I hoped. It may take me a little longer than I estimated to get back to power."

"Anything I could do to help?"

"Actually, there is," the girl replied, "I'd like you to enchant a few barrier charms. I don't think Shinji's ready yet to cast a barrier large enough to contain an Angel."

Misato gave her the thumbs up, "No problem. Would you care for some of my special seasoning?"

She reached into one of the cupboards and pulled out a plain white packet, liberally pouring the contents into her dish. Curious, Asuka took a bit and added it to her's before taking a bite. The flavor was indescribably horrible. Coughing and choking, Asuka ran to the sink and turned on the faucet, drinking directly from the spout in a desperate bid to rid the taste from her mouth.

"If you don't like it just say so," Misato said a little miffed, taking another bite from her dish.

"Scheißkerl!" Asuka gasped, her mouth still roiling from the taste, "The hell's wrong with your tongue!"

"Well if you're not going to eat yours, can I have it?"

* * *

><p>Shinji was relaxing in the tub when he heard Asuka shouting at his godmother. He didn't understand some of the words that came out, but he was certain that they would make his ears curdle if he did.<p>

_Guess she had a bit of Misato's 'special ingredient,'_ he mused as he leaned back into the warm water.

He smirked a bit, remembering his first time tasting the unknown additive. Seemed to be fair retribution on the red-headed girl for making him work so hard today.

* * *

><p>School<p>

Shinji sat at his desk at school on Monday morning, frantically finishing his homework. Yesterday he trained for most of the day, but not as long or as hard compared to Saturday. Still, he had completely forgotten to finish his homework.

"Yo, Shin-man!"

Touji and Kensuke sidled over to his desk. The bespectacled boy saw what Shinji was trying to do and shook his head in disappointment.

"Trying to finish in the last minute? For shame," he said mockingly, "And I thought you were one of those never forget types."

"Shut up," Shinji said through gritted teeth, not looking up from his frantic writing, "I had a busy weekend."

He instantly regretted it as Touji asked, "Busy doing what?"

"None of your business," he responded, already knowing that he was only digging himself deeper.

"I bet you were out with Shikinami-chan," Kensuke guessed, "Out on a romantic getaway for two. First a movie, then dinner, then an overnight stay at-"

He was interrupted by a strong grip on his ear. The class representative had followed their conversation and decided to take action before it got out of hand. Hikari had a stern look as she tugged on the ear.

"Aida, class will be starting soon. You and Suzuhara need to get back to your seats."

They barely grumbled as they followed her orders, Kensuke rubbing his ear. Shinji cringed a little as she then turned her gaze upon him. She looked at his work and shook her head in disappointment, not saying anything to him as she took her seat.

The teacher went down the list on his attendance sheet while Shinji frantically tried to finish his homework. He was so focused that he missed it when the teacher called his name until the person behind him alerted him with a jab to the back.

"Ikari, Shinji."

"Oh, here," Shinji jumped as his name was called for the third time.

"Kazumaru, Naoto."

"Here," the student behind him answered.

Whispering thanks to the boy, Shinji tried to divide his attention on the teacher and his homework.

* * *

><p>Later That Day<p>

"Why won't you let us meet Shikinami-san again?"

Shinji ignored Kensuke and Touji as they bugged him again about Asuka. It was lunch break, and they were on the roof. Still trying to catch up on his work, Shinji took care to not mess up his papers with his lunch. It became more difficult with two nosy friends looking over his shoulder.

"The reason he won't talk is because he doesn't want to share," Kensuke theorized, "He's never had a girlfriend before, so he's keeping this girl to himself."

"I've told you, it's not like that," Shinji replied for what felt like the hundredth time, "We're just old pen pals. Our relationship is nothing more than that."

The jock had a disbelieving look, "So you never wanted to improve your relationship? Never thought of tapping that fine piece of-"

Bright red, Shinji told him, "No, I've never considered that, and you shouldn't think of her like that. Shikinami-san is not that kind of person."

While Asuka was egotistical and was prone to causing him incredible physical and emotional pain, Shinji couldn't deny that she was very pretty. He could understand his friends' interest, he just didn't want them to be exposed to her harshness.

**So you think I'm pretty, do you?**

Choking on his lunch, Shinji felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Asuka had never really made it clear just how well she could hear his thoughts, and he had hoped that his mind wasn't really open to her. His thoughts weren't as protected as he had hoped, and now he was facing the consequences.

_Well, um, you see-_

Asuka giggled at his nervous behavior, **Well, what about me do you think is pretty?**

Shinji was really sweating now, so he tried to ignore her and focused on his friends, "Anyway, I thought you guys were interested in Misato. What happened?"

"Oh she's hot, no doubt about that," Touji said in response, "She's easily twice as hot as Shikinami, but there's nothing wrong with looking at other goods."

"If given the option," Kensuke added, "I'd prefer to rest my head among Katsuragi's melons. Your friend's got a nice rack, but nowhere near as good. Maybe in a few years when she's matured a bit."

Another cold chill ran down his spine as he realized the conversation wasn't going quite the direction he was hoping, and that a certain red-headed girl was still listening. He could feel her glare, even though they were far apart, and Shinji knew that he was going to pay dearly for this.

_That's their opinions_, he tried to explain, _It's not what I think!_

**Oh really? So then would that mean you prefer to be with me or with Misato?**

The question was loaded, and Shinji couldn't think of a way to answer. He didn't want to upset Asuka, but he didn't know how to answer. If he said he preferred Misato, the girl might take it the wrong way and call him a pervert and the like, and then beat him up during training. If he said her, he'd rather not think about the consequences.

Apparently he took too long to answer as he heard Asuka huff, **Baka, it's not something you should be taking so seriously. Besides, didn't I already say that I had no interest in you at all?**

That was a pretty heavy blow on Shinji's psyche as he felt foolish for thinking his opinion was important to Asuka. His head hanging, the boy leaned back and sighed explosively, garnering his friends' curiosity.

A sudden wind blew down his spine, making Shinji shiver, "Hey, it's getting a bit chilly. Let's go back inside."

Kensuke looked around, confused, "What are you talking about? It's like 25 degrees Celsius out, how are you feeling cold?"

Shinji felt another chill and looked around. It was late spring, and the sun was shining brightly overhead in a cloudless sky. He couldn't help but wonder how he could be feeling cold when it was so warm out.

* * *

><p>Drawing her power closer, Yukiko took a step further into the shadows of the rooftop she hid on. Though the child was still learning, he had sensed a little of her power. He will probably dismiss it as a strange weather anomaly, but it was beginning to be risky for her to stay this close.<p>

"That child is getting to be quite troublesome," she muttered to herself.

Her musings were interrupted as she sensed another magical source near her. Yukiko could not tell where the source was coming from, but she still held herself with one arm outstretched to defend herself.

"I know you're there," the woman called, "show yourself."

"Let's not be too hasty," a voice answered, "I was just curious as to why a familiar was hanging around a place like this without her master."

Narrowing her eyes, Yukiko tried to pinpoint the source of the voice, "If you have no business with me leave at once."

"Nyahaha, alright," the voiced answered with cheer, "I've learned what I wanted so I'll leave you alone. Please let your master know that I said hello."

The presence disappeared, though the pale woman didn't relax until some time had passed. Lowering her hand, she frowned as she walked across the roof. There were no traces of the intruder, and it caused Yukiko to worry.

_I must inform Ojou-sama._

* * *

><p>Shinji drew in power as Asuka watched. So far, the hellish training he was expecting hadn't come, but he was sure it was only a matter of time.<p>

"Alright, this time I want you to cast a dozen fireballs followed by another dozen of your bolts."

Closing his eyes, drew his energies into his hands before he chanted, "_Hoshizora no yoru ni tōboe suru: Hinotama!_"

Twelve violet balls of fire flew from his outstretched hand into the air. Not pausing, he drew in more energy and focused for another set of spells.

"_Hoshizora no yoru ni tōboe suru: Shinku no Inazuma!_"

He chased the fireballs with a dozen crimson lightning bolts blasting from his fingertips. Once the last spark had disappeared, Shinji collapsed to one knee. He wasn't as tired as after fighting the last Angel, but it was still tiring work to have to cast so many spells at once.

"Not bad," Asuka said coolly, "Still, if you can't do that much without collapsing, then you've still a ways to go."

Getting back to his feet, Shinji replied, "And yet, I've got two Angel kills under my belt."

Gritting her teeth, the girl shot back, "That first Angel was my kill, you simply gave it the final blow."

"Still my kill," he felt like he was finally getting back at Asuka, "And what did you do against the last Angel?"

He saw that the girl had turned her back to him, her arms crossed across her chest. Feeling confidant that he finally had the upper hand over the brash girl, Shinji continued to push his advantage.

"Not only that, didn't I save your life twice? I think that at least deserves some thanks."

When he didn't get a response, Shinji turned to Asuka again. Her shoulders shook as she looked up to him with bright eyes. The boy felt warm as she sidled up closer to him, almost shyly.

"Then, how should I thank you?" Asuka asked demurely.

Her entire body was the picture of a defenseless damsel, her hands clutched to her chest as she moved closer to him still. Shinji could see water forming in the corner of her eyes, making her look more innocent and defenseless. Growing warmer as she moved closer, he gulped as she looked up at him with shy eyes. Her face came closer, her rosy lips inviting him closer.

Shinji yelped as her foot crashed down atop his. Tripping, he fell over onto his back, Asuka standing triumphantly over him.

She was breathless as she laughed at him, "Mein Gott, you actually fell for that! Haha, I can't believe how stupid your face looked."

His face now burning from embarrassment, Shinji got up with a limp. He just watched as Asuka fell over while laughing at him. She eventually began to calm down, a giggle popping out occasionally. Ignoring his outstretched hand, Asuka got to her feet, wiping dirt and leaves from the seat of her pants.

"Alright, that makes up for this afternoon," she said happily, "Now, back to training. I want twenty fireballs, fast as you can."

Shinji complied, reminding himself who he tried to go up against and to never try that again.

* * *

><p><em>TBC<em>


End file.
